The Cumulonimbus Cloud Apprehension
by bigbangenthusiast
Summary: Amy reveals a childhood fear to Sheldon.


**I received a prompt from Shecami on tumblr: _"Hey! I would like to propose! Amy wakes up at night for fear of thunder and Sheldon comforts her. She knows what causes the thunder but this is a childlike fear she never revealed."_ Here is my short, but hopefully sweet, creation.**

Amy fell asleep in her favorite position, with Sheldon's arm draped over her side, his hand resting on her belly. She felt very loved and safe and wasn't sure how she survived all those years alone, though it was a learning curve at first.

After moving in together, it had taken some time to get used to each other's nighttime quirks, but by the second month, they had developed a routine. Now both admitted to feeling more rested in the mornings than they had when they slept alone. Sheldon no longer slept on his back like a vampire, and Amy's night terrors had disappeared. For more than a year, everything was perfect, until one fateful night when the sounds of a severe thunderstorm shattered that tranquil feeling.

The deafening boom of nearby thunder startled Amy awake. She covered her head with her pillow and tried to calm her nerves. A second boom shook the building, and she whimpered. By the fourth round she was shaking so badly that the vibrations roused her fiancé awake.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

"The… the thunder," she stammered. As if on cue, another boom sounded, and she held the pillow tighter over her head.

He lifted a corner of her pillow and peeked at her. "If your eardrums are sensitive to the sound, you can help yourself to my stash of earplugs."

"It's not that."

"Then why are you hiding?"

She licked her lips. Southern California had been in a drought for months, with only the occasional sprinkle of rain, so this was the first time there had been a storm since she had lived in the Los Robles apartment. She never told Sheldon about her irrational fear of thunder, not because she was keeping secrets from him, but because it had just never come up.

"Amy? Are you okay?" He asked when she failed to answer.

She felt his hand caress her arm and experienced a small wave of comfort. "I… I have astraphobia," she whispered. "A fear of thunder."

He blinked in surprise. "Amy, thunder is nothing more than the sound caused by the sudden increased pressure and temperature, as a result of the rapid expansion of the air surrounding a bolt of lightning."

"I know that," she snarled, then seeing the hurt look on his face, she added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." She shook again when another boom reverberated through the room.

Sheldon wedged his head under the pillow with hers so they were eye to eye. "If you know what causes the sound, why are you so afraid of it? I suppose there is a rational concern for a lightning strike, but we are safe inside the building. We even have another floor above us for protection."

"I know. My brain's left hemisphere tells me I'm safe, but that thought is overshadowed by anxiety and fear." She twisted her engagement ring nervously.

"Did you experience a traumatic event?"

"I've been afraid of thunder since I was a little girl. I can't remember a time when I wasn't afraid, so I don't know what happened to initially trigger my phobia. My mother suggested I research what causes thunder, in the hopes that a better understanding would put my mind at ease. I even used the idea for my 5th grade science fair project. I did extensive research on cumulonimbus clouds and their capability of producing thunder and lightning. I must have checked out every meteorology book from the library."

"Impressive."

She shrugged. "I guess. My work paid off in terms of my grade, earning me first place in the fair, but even with my newfound knowledge, the sound continues to frighten me. I know my fear is irrational, but phobias are difficult to overcome."

He leaned in and kissed her gently. "Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. Remember how terrified I was of Lovey Dovey? I never thought I would overcome my phobia, but you and Bernadette encouraged me to interact with him. It was difficult, but I was able to set my fear aside and even came to love that bird. Now I have an opportunity to help you."

"What do you propose?"

"Perhaps we can replace your negative feelings with positive ones to alleviate your fears."

"How?"

He pulled her close and stroked her back. When the next round of thunder hit, he pulled her even closer and pressed his lips to hers. He repeated his actions every time it sounded, and each time, Amy became less agitated. By the fifth time, she melted into him, not even waiting for his lips to touch hers first.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Much better," she sighed happily.


End file.
